Illuminated sign



APF@ 29 E929 F. H. SCANTLEBURY gm ILLUMINATED SIGN Y Filed NOV. 3, 1928 45. SheS-Sheet l nvenfor @Q mwm April 2, 11929, F. H. SCANTLEBURY ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed Nov. 3, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet (m, ma@

April 2, E929. F. H. scANTLEBURY ILLUMINATED S I GN Filed Nov. 3, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet AWE 2 i929 F. H. SCANTLEBURY lpf ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed Nov. 3, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Snueutor )Patented pr. 2, llQZQ.,

Milli/,9th

ser enr ersten.

earners n scnmrnsuar, or meenten, new Yoan.

.engineman meer november a, was serial m.- aieste 1 Y ing or "sandblasting, the indented surfe/ce which eonsistsle'minnteacets and other irregida'titles;iwilli` intercept the internally transmittedlight-rays'and Will retract and re'e'ct the* intercepted rays outwardly inf a manner tcl-brilliantly illuminate the etched designor configuration. lL have exnbodled this Well knownphenoinenon inl` my ilinminated sign' but in' a manner heretoforel nnlmown.

Prior to my invention it' was proposed to construct illuminated signs of tWo juxtaposed sheets of glass each: bearing separate parts of,

etched matter to be exhibited, these parts being made to appear in diEerent colors by means of diierent colored transparent strips interposed between the light source`and the edges of the glasssheets.

' @ne object of my invention is to provide an illuminated sign wherein varying depths of color and shade eects are exhibited as desired in any portionx of the design. Another object is toprovid'e a pictorial' design or rep'- resentation of' an object wherein the dierent elements or portions of the composite 'design are exhibited indifferent colors. A further purpose is to provide a sign structure in which the' illuminated signs are in the form of interchangeable units or packs, thereby permitting* the subjects to be readily changed;i

16, thereby torminga sign pack Whichmay be In the following description l shall referto the accon'ipanying drawings in Which- Fignre l isa perspective View of an illu# minet-ed sign embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig-rire 3 is an exploded view showing the separate plates, partly fragmentary, which are assembledin the sign unit or pack to form the complete design;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the opa' ue backing plate;

Figures 5, 6' an 7 are respeetively'` fragments of the corners of vthe glassplatesshowing" the-'edgesexposed to the rays est the lama Figure 8:- is: a verticall section through: e. @pagine backing plate-1; v Y

Figures 9; -10 and l1;- are respectively seci tional views of the lines 9 9, 10.-16' and4 1-l-11= et Fig. 3;

F1gure 12 isa perspective 'View ot a= nagment of the plate 3a;

Figure 13 is van endelevation, mostlyin section of one form of my invention'vhaving the'lalnp above .the sign plates;

Flgnre 14i is a. vertical? sectional view'of another form'of my invention in. which the lamp 1S `bellow the plates;

Figure 15 isa perspective view of the trame portion of a sign-unit or pack;

Figure 16 is Ia,l fragmentary` vertical sectional' view'- o one end'of a pack; and

Eigene l?? is artragmentary, vertical, 1ongitudi-nal sectional view ot therlower portion oftheilated sign shown in Fig. le.

ln' Figs. l to 7, ll'. have illustrated: one em- I bodirnent of niyinventiron as applied to a inclu-color signeinbodying a pictorial design'havmg the light source,indicated by the incandescent lamps 2 enclosed inthe housing or hghtlng chamber 3, below the glass sign plates or shee. rll'he rectangular hollow frame 5; which holds the si plates is pref'- erably made of sheet metal lntegral' with the llghtrng chamber, which in this form alsoconstitutes the base or support.

E prefer to assemble the plates of the sign by ,inserting them inthe proper relation into a skeleton frame 8,-openat the top-and bottom `with closed sides, as illustrated in Fig. 15;

The Vplates are' supported` upon inwardly directed flanges 'l' at the bottomof the sidemembers.- @iter the plates have been inserted,.they are locked by bending the tabs 8, Y

proj ecting fromthe upper edges of the frame, down against thef'plates as indicated in VFig.

inserted as a unit intoany suitable sign iframe v5.: 'lhe skeletonfframe 6 is preferably 4piobrackets '19, carried by a detachable member 20 which maq be removed by loosening the screw 2l an swinging the member downwardly until the lugs 23 may be disengaged as indica-ted in Fig. 17. When it is desired to suspend the sign from the top, the lighting chamber is in Fig. 13V."

As pointed out above it has heretotore been proposed to provide illuminated signs Wherein different objects' or separate and distinct placed above the plates as shown V'features of the,l sign were placed upon diderent sheets and lighted in diderent colors.

Prior to my invention, however, no signs haveV been produced having component elements or parts ot' a single figure, displayed in a plurality of colors to produce a pictorial ellect; nor have any prior illuminated signs been provided which produce shadow edects and varying depths of color or tone.

lFor the purpose of explaining my inven# tion ll have illustrated in liig. l a pictorial design embodying an old woman in Dutch attire carrying a club in her upraised hand, dit

ferent parts of this figure being shown in blue, red and White colorsrespectively. i

The dress is exhibited in blue, the folds or plaits of the skirt contrasting strongly with the parts in shadow; ln order to produce this ed'ect the dress portion is cut or etched, preferably with a sand-blast, in the/glass plate 3 in the manner shown at the top ol lFig. 3. l Aregard sand-blasting as one method ot etching and have so used the term.etching in the description'and claims. 'lhose portions which are to produce the high lights ot the ligure and be more strongly illuminated, are first cut or etched by sand-blasting to a certain depth, while the remaining portions are protected by a shielding medium. 'llhe protecting covering is, then removed from the previously shielded portions and the whole tigurc of the dress is subjected to the sandblast until the parts which are to receive less illumination are cut to the desired depth. During this secon-d step the portions previously etched-Will be cut still deeper. 'lhc first cutting will be so ga-uged or regulated that the combined effect ot' the two applications of the sand-blast will produce the proper contrasting ellect between the high and low lights of the design. This appears more clearly in the enlarged fragmentary view shown in Fig. 12. l may also produce still further gradations in color and shading eli- :tects when it is necessary to produce desired effects. Thus in the second cutting, certainV portions of the design mayremain shielded monaca ingly beautiful and are entirely new in the art of illuminated si.

'lhe vvomanls stockings and the club which are to appear in red are etched or cut in sheet 3b; while those parts which are to appear in white or uncolored are etched in plate 3, that is, the Womans bonnet, arm, apron and shoes.

The particular color of the light rays which traverse any, plate are determined by a thin transparent film embodying the desired color and applied directly to the edge ot the plate, Various media may be employed for pose, such as the transparent shellac known titl as lamp lacquer used in coloring electric lamps. glazel which is tired on the edge of the plate. l have indicated in Fig. .5 that a blue lacquer is applied to the lovver edge of the plate 3a and have indicated in llig. 6, a-red lacquer applied to the lower edge of plate 3l. llo coloring is applied to the edge ot the outer plate 3 as the elements ot the design on this plate are to appear in White or Yfrosted.

Another feature of my invention resides in the production of Va multi-color design, picture or configuration in which the elements are so correlated that the illusion of solidarity a'nd unity is unmarred. lo accomplish this .Y result the element or elements on one plate must be etched in harmony and corn' ormity to the juxtaposed elements upon the other plates. Each element on one plate must, therefore, be located positioned with relation to thefelements on the other plates so that the composite picture, design 'llhe coloring may be applied as aV veution consists in positioningthe respective elements of the design in a manner to produce the ettect of nat uralness and solidarity. This gives an aesthetic qualitpv to the picture which is not only pleasing but greatly enhances the artistic beauty of the ensemble. Thus in the example shown, the wonians dress is etched upon the rear-most plate, while the apron which overlies the dress is etched in the front plate. Likewise the arm and shoes are carried by the front plate while the stockings and club are placed on the intermediate plate which is back of the front plate.

It will also be noted that ll am enabled to produce the etlect of solidity and to a certain extent of thickness and rotundity by the fact that the dierent. portions of the -picture or designwhich are superposed, are suppoited in parallel planes. j i i I.

The optical principles involved 1n the productionof edge illuminated etched plates are well known and need not be described. I have taken advantage of the optical @laws o r phenomena, however, in amanner which is new in this art.- By etching certain portions deeper into the plate I have produced new effects. rlhe more deeply cutareas Iintercept a larger amount of the transmitted 'light rays and .also greatly increasethe number of facets and irregularities in the frosted surface which retract and reflect the light outwardly. In this manner I am enabledto produce vhigh lights and shadows, varying degrees o ffcol'or intensity and tone effects heretofore unknown. The intensityv of the interni'illyltransi'nitted light is enhancedby the polished edges of the plates which reflect the light rays back into the plate and I may fincrease the intensity of this refiection by s1lvering the edges. v

It is important that no light shall penetrate the sign plates from the rear and hence I provide an opaque backing plate 25. rIliis also absorbs any extraneous light from without the sign and causes the design or characters of the sign to stand out 1n 'bold relief.

' It is obvious that I may mount the plates of different signs upon opposite sides of the opaque plate thus providing a double sign lighted from the same source.

I have discovered that the opaque backing sheet may be employed to establish a ground color` to bring out contrasts and color effects in association or combination With the various Colors transmitted from the edge lighting. Moreover, since the various colored light rays transmitted through the respective plates do not penetrate each other, I have found that different effects and different degrees in contrasts may be produced by varying the color of thel background as by over-laying a solid background of any lgiven color in part with another color.

In Figs. 8 to 11 I have vertical sectional views of theseveral plates of the sign described herein. When these plates are asseinbled within the skeleton fra-me shown in Fig. 15 and secured by bending down the end tabs 8, a sign pack is formed which can be transported as a unit and inserted into one of the sign casings or housings shown in Fig. l and in vertical section in Fig. 14. 'llhe design or subject matter of the sign can be readily changed by removing one sign pack and inserting another. rIhus a commercial concern having branches or stores Widely distributed throughout the country may change their signs from time to time by merely shipping new sign packs to be substituted for the old ones. While of course the individual plates could be inserted in the sign housing or casing, the convenience and safety of the packs or, sign units will be appreciated.

I claim: 4 l. A inulti-plate sign of the edge illuminatedtype having a composite configuration adapted to be illuminated in a plurality of colors, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed glass plates, each plate having etched therein a portionof the composite configuration, and at least one plate having an adherent colored transparent co'ating on one edge.

2. A multi-plate sign of the edge illuminated type having a composite configuration adapted to be illuminated in a plurality of colors, comprising a plurality -of juxtaposed glass plates, each plate having etched therein an element of the configuration, certain of said plates having an adherent colored trans parent coating on the light transmitting edge, and a frame adapted to hold said plates and toposition them with the elements in proper registryv in the composite configuration.

3. In a sign as set-forth in claim '2, an opaque backing plate positioned against the rear plate to establish a ground color for `the illuminated configuration.

4. In a sign as defined in claim 2, the edges other than the light transmitting edge, having inwardly directed mirrored surfaces to thereby reflect the light rays transmitted edgewise through the plates.

5. A sign comprising a transparent glass plate having a character etched in its surface which is adapted to be illuminated by light rays transmitted through an edge of the plate, said character having areas of varying depth to thereby refr-act the light rays with different degrees of intensity.

6:- An illuminated sign comprising a pack of iuxtaposed transparent plates secured together, each plate bearing an incised configuration having a refracting surface formingan element of a design, the design elements on the several plates being positioned insuch relation to each other that the ensemble exhibits the complete design, the contiguous edges of certain of said plates along one side of the pack having an adherent transparent colored coating, a lighting chamber enclosing said contiguous edges and a source of light within said chamber.

7. In an illuminated sign as sct forth in claim 6, certain of said plates having portions yof the design elements incised to different depths to thereby refract with di'erent degrees of intensity the light .rays transmitted edgewise through the plates. i

8. An illuminated sign comprising a pack of juxtaposed transparent plates secured together in a frame, each plate bearing an etched configuration forming an element of I a composite design, the design elements on the several plates being positioned in such relation to each other that the ensemble eX- hibits the complete design, the contiguous edges of certain of. said plates along one side of the pack having an adherent transparent colored coating, a skeleton housing adapted to receive sai-d pack, said housing having a lighting chamber provided With an opening extending longitudinally of and adjacent to said contiguous edges of the plates, and a source of light Within said chamber.

9. In an illuminated sign as specified in claim 8, means to exclude extraneous light from the edges of the plates.

10.. A multi-plate sign of the edge illuminated type embodying a pictorial design adapted to be illuminated in a plurality of colors, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed glass plates, each plate having incised therem an element or elements of the design, the outlines of adjacent elements being counterparts of each other along contiguous edges, and the edges of certain of the plates being provided With an adherent colored transparent coating.

11. A multiplate sign of the edge illuminated type embodying a pictorial design adapted to be illuminated in a plurality of colors, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed glass plates, each plate having incised theremenace in an element orl elements of the design, the outlines of adjacent elements being counterparts of each other along contiguous edges, the latter having an edge to edge contact in the design, and the edges of certain 'of the plates being provided with an adherent colored transparent coating.

12. A multi-plate sign of the edge illuminated type having a composite configuration adapted to be illuminated in a plurality of colors, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed glass plates, each plate having etched therein an element of the configuration, certain of said plates having an adherent colored transparent coating on the light transmitting edge, a frame adapted to hold said plates fand to position them with the elements in proper registry in the composite conti ration, and an opaque backing pla-te positloned against the rear plate to establish a ground color for the illuminated conguration, said backing plate being of suitable colors to co-act with light rays'transmitted through the coated edges of the plates in producing desired color effects in the composite configuration.

In testimony whereof l ajx my signature.

renners n. soanrrinnunr. y 

